Death of a Hollow Man by Caroline Graham, 0786245093, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

One of the original "Midsomer Murders".

You have probably read hundreds of books that use these ever-fresh ingredients. There is one small English village, peopled by eccentric collectors, partner-swapping couples, and a class system in microcosm, housing well-disguised deviants who write poison pen letters, carry guilty secrets, or devise well-planned murders.

Caroline Graham is a current dealer in these items, and I reckon she turns them into as good an entertainment as any writer, past or present, I know. Her own experience in the theatre provides the amazing verisimilitude in this, her second crime novel. The murder occurs during the opening night of an amateur production of “Amadeus”.

Older readers will recall how New Zealand writer Ngaio Marsh used the theatre for some of her murder mystery settings. Miss Graham is a much better writer. Rarely in detective fiction will you find such depth and variety of character drawing, and such charming and elegant prose.

Her sleuth is Chief Inspector Barnaby and his assistant is Sergeant Troy. As created by Caroline Graham, they are considerably different from their television depictions in a popular series “Midsomer Murders” that has already run to more than twenty episodes.

A Christmas pudding of a book

This is Caroline Graham at her very best, and her best is very very good indeed. She stirs the most gorgeous ingredients in the most skilful manner possible, cooks them with relish and serves it with luscious sauce. This is the detective story Dickens would have written if he had been alive today. Her characters her action and her pace are always superb but this in my opinion is her best book. Did you ever read Paying Guests by Benson? well Hollow man is Paying Guests with heart and action.

Sheer brilliance.

This particular Graham novel illustrates clearly her competance as a novelist. The scene is set superbly as soon as you open the book, and continues to be both real and interesting throughout. Well thought out character sketches, and indeed the characters themselves are often humourous and always believable. Yet, this is the sort of thing I've come to expect from Graham. If there is a more underrated author you'd have to get up pretty early to find one.

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